Session 1

No Way Around the Wilderness

Charting the Course

Learning Objective

Participants will explore the meaning of the wilderness and begin to understand how their experiences in the wilderness can grow their Christian faith and bring them closer to God.

Themes for Exploration

• A wilderness can be a physical place or a life circumstance.

• We may feel separated from God when we are in a wilderness, yet a wilderness actually provides an opportunity for us to grow closer to God.

• Time spent in a wilderness can prepare us to receive God's blessings and to prevail against life's challenges.

Key Scripture

Remember the long way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments. He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. (Deuteronomy 8:2-3 NRSV)

Theological Focus

God uses the difficult, desperate times of our lives to conform us to the image of Christ, teaching us important lessons about our character and God's character. Through suffering, persevering, and trusting God, we grow in our faith. God uses the wilderness to prepare and equip us to be like Jesus and serve a hurting and broken world in Christ's name.

Before the Session

• Review the session outline and, if desired, the video segment.

• You may want to find pictures of various kinds of wilderness areas and display them around the room.

• Have chart paper or a whiteboard and markers ready to record responses to questions during the session. (optional) • Have access to print or online concordances for participants to use for the Scripture study.

Getting Started (10 Minutes)

Opening Prayer

Loving God, thank you for this time together. We give thanks for each person in this group and pray that you will guide us as we journey through this study together. We acknowledge that you are with us even as we walk through a wilderness. Grant us strength and courage as we persevere through the challenging times of our lives. Open our hearts and minds to be receptive to what you desire to teach us so that we may be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Housekeeping

• Since this is the first session, take a few minutes to share any necessary information about your meeting space and schedule.

• Remind participants to bring their Bibles and books to each session.

• Stress the importance of maintaining confidentiality within the group.

Conversation Starter

Share the title for this study, A Way Through the Wilderness. Call attention to the author's question in Chapter 1: "What images come to mind when you think of a wilderness?"

Ask:

• What natural areas in our region and around the world come to mind when you think about a wilderness?

• What are the characteristics of these natural areas that cause you to think of them as wilderness?

• How does the author describe the wilderness terrain we find in the Bible?

Read this quote from the book: "In the Scriptures, wilderness is used to describe a time in a person's life when his or her soul is parched and dry; when today is hard and the future appears barren; when as far as you can see there is nothing but devastation, and you wonder if you'll find a way out."

Ask:

• What places and times in our lives might we describe as a wilderness? (Possible answers include a hospital room, nursing home, a time of illness, the loss of a relationship or job, a disability). Note: This is not the time for participants to share individual experiences.

Engaging the Material (40 Minutes)

The Video

Play:Session 1: No Way Around the Wilderness (approximately 10–15 minutes)

Discuss:

• How can the way we think before entering the wilderness hurt or help us when hard times come?

• What do the Scriptures tell us about what we can expect from God when we are in the wilderness?

• Do you agree that our greatest battles are inside ourselves? Why or why not? How does the wilderness help us to fight and win our inner battles?

• How can the wilderness be compared to an unexpected test that teaches us lessons?

The Scriptures

• Read the Key Scripture: Deuteronomy 8:2-3.

• Note that the term wilderness is used nearly three hundred times in the Bible.

• Have the participants use print or online concordances to search for Scripture passages that include the word wilderness. Have them read the passages aloud. Or, if the group is large, break into small groups or pairs for this exercise and then come back together for a time of sharing. Work together to make a list of things that these passages tell us about a physical wilderness and a spiritual wilderness.

The Book

Invite participants to share briefly (just a couple of sentences) about a wilderness experience they have had or a wilderness in which they currently find themselves. After everyone who would like to share has had the opportunity, address this question to the group as a whole: "What are some of the feelings we have during a wilderness experience?" Record responses on a whiteboard or chart paper.

Say:

The author points out that an easy or comfortable life does not create character and strength. He writes, "A life without great challenges will not grow a great faith."

Ask:

• How have your experiences in the wilderness helped you grow in character and strength?

• How have these experiences grown your faith and made you more like Christ?

• Why do you think difficult and devastating experiences help us to have a deeper and more meaningful relationship with God?

Invite participants to refer to the section of the chapter titled "Why Does God Allow Us to Experience the Wilderness?"

Ask:

• How does the author answer this question? (Record responses on a whiteboard or chart paper.)

• How do you answer this question?

Invite participants to refer to the section titled "The Wilderness Prepares Us for Blessing."

Read this quote: "So before God blesses us, often he allows us to go through a wilderness experience that humbles our spirit and refines our character. Then we have the maturity that can bear the...